A Ukrainian drone strike in Russian-controlled Vuhlehirsk, Donetsk region, killed three water-supply repair workers and seriously injured a fourth, Denis Pushilin said. Pushilin also reported additional injuries in other Russian-held parts of Donetsk. Russia said its forces captured Novovasylivka in Kharkiv and reported multiple drone attacks in Volgograd and Yaroslavl, while a Russian drone crashed on an apartment block in Galati, Romania, injuring two.
Kremlin-Installed Donetsk Head Says Ukrainian Drone Strike Killed Three Utility Workers
Denis Pushilin, Moscow-installed leader of the Russian-controlled parts of the Donetsk region, attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 10, 2026. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS
May 28 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone strike killed three utility workers in Vuhlehirsk, a town in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, the Kremlin-installed regional head Denis Pushilin said on Thursday.
Pushilin said on the Telegram messaging app that the victims were a water-supply repair crew whose car was struck while they were working in Vuhlehirsk, north of the city of Donetsk. A fourth crew member was seriously injured.
He added that four other people were wounded in separate incidents in Russian-held areas of Donetsk.
Broader Context
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from parts of Donetsk that Kyiv still holds and said it is prepared to continue fighting until it secures full control; Ukraine has rejected that demand. In March, Pushilin said Ukrainian forces still controlled up to 17% of the region.
Russian forces have been conducting a slow advance across Donetsk, while Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, have said Kyiv's forces have retaken territory and are in their strongest position for months along the roughly 1,200-km (775-mile) front line.
Related Incidents
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Novovasylivka in the Kharkiv region, further north, where Moscow says it aims to establish a buffer zone on the border.
Central Russia's Volgograd region reported a large drone barrage that struck an apartment building and energy and civil infrastructure, though officials reported no casualties. Yaroslavl region, northeast of Moscow, also reported drone strikes and temporarily suspended traffic toward the capital; both regions host major oil-refining facilities that have been targeted in efforts to cut Russian energy revenue.
On the Ukrainian border, acting Bryansk Governor Yegor Kovalchuk said a Ukrainian drone strike on a village killed one person. Romanian authorities reported that a Russian drone that crashed during an overnight attack on Ukraine landed on the roof of a block of flats in the southeastern city of Galati, injuring two people.
Reporting: Ron Popeski and Jekaterīna Golubkova. Editing: Lincoln Feast and Stephen Coates.
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